2008 Woodie Awards
The rise of double majors
Nicholas Wheeler
Issue date: 1/15/03 Section: News
by Nicholas Wheeler
"It's almost a necessity."
That is how Ralph Dado, an arts and sciences freshman, described the current significance of the double major to an undergraduate student at an elite university. This sentiment, now common, was nearly unheard of a mere decade ago, and it is reflective of a national trend which has not stopped at Healy Gates. For those high-achieving students who entered college with mulitple A.P. credits, the double major or double minor is becoming the new ticket to desirable positions in an increasingly competitive job market, in government service and in the nation's top law and medical schools.
Detailing this trend, The New York Times published a front-page news story last November which featured Georgetown University in the dual degree avant-garde. According to The Times, 23 percent of the class of 2002 graduated with double majors, up from 14 percent just six years earlier. When one recalls that foreign service students are not permitted to double major, the proportions are magnified from the point of view of College and Business School students. According to Sue Lorenson, an Assistant Dean in the College, nearly 30 percent of its 2002 graduates held such dual degrees, and "the percentage of the class of 2003 that is double majoring is also in the mid-to-high 20s."
Nor is Georgetown alone. The New York Times article offered further examples: Washington University in St. Louis saw its percentage of double majors increase from 28 percent to 42 percent in the last five years; a third of students currently double major at Macalester College; and George Washington University witnessed the number of double majors rise from 70 a decade ago to 486 this fall ("For Students Seeking Edge, One Major Just Isn't Enough," Tamar Lewis, Nov. 17, 2002).
What is behind this trend, and why do students like Ralph Dado view having a double major as a "necessity"?
Larger numbers of students with A.P. credit going into college allow a greater amount of time to be spent on studying particular disciplines. Many students -- and, at least as important, their parents -- believe that holding a dual degree will demonstrate a strong work ethic and diverse abilities to more potential employers. Whether this actually confers a greater chance of being hired remains to be seen. Moreover, deans and professors across the country and at Georgetown are becoming more suspicious of the intellectual value of focusing so exclusively on two subject areas.
"It's almost a necessity."
That is how Ralph Dado, an arts and sciences freshman, described the current significance of the double major to an undergraduate student at an elite university. This sentiment, now common, was nearly unheard of a mere decade ago, and it is reflective of a national trend which has not stopped at Healy Gates. For those high-achieving students who entered college with mulitple A.P. credits, the double major or double minor is becoming the new ticket to desirable positions in an increasingly competitive job market, in government service and in the nation's top law and medical schools.
Detailing this trend, The New York Times published a front-page news story last November which featured Georgetown University in the dual degree avant-garde. According to The Times, 23 percent of the class of 2002 graduated with double majors, up from 14 percent just six years earlier. When one recalls that foreign service students are not permitted to double major, the proportions are magnified from the point of view of College and Business School students. According to Sue Lorenson, an Assistant Dean in the College, nearly 30 percent of its 2002 graduates held such dual degrees, and "the percentage of the class of 2003 that is double majoring is also in the mid-to-high 20s."
Nor is Georgetown alone. The New York Times article offered further examples: Washington University in St. Louis saw its percentage of double majors increase from 28 percent to 42 percent in the last five years; a third of students currently double major at Macalester College; and George Washington University witnessed the number of double majors rise from 70 a decade ago to 486 this fall ("For Students Seeking Edge, One Major Just Isn't Enough," Tamar Lewis, Nov. 17, 2002).
What is behind this trend, and why do students like Ralph Dado view having a double major as a "necessity"?
Larger numbers of students with A.P. credit going into college allow a greater amount of time to be spent on studying particular disciplines. Many students -- and, at least as important, their parents -- believe that holding a dual degree will demonstrate a strong work ethic and diverse abilities to more potential employers. Whether this actually confers a greater chance of being hired remains to be seen. Moreover, deans and professors across the country and at Georgetown are becoming more suspicious of the intellectual value of focusing so exclusively on two subject areas.